


You Were My Life (But Life is Far Away from Fair)

by 8ucky8arnes



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Ali Martin & Evan "Buck" Buckley Friendship, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood and Violence, Death Dealer!Buck, Human!Eddie, Inspired by Underworld (Movies), M/M, Reincarnation, Vampire!Buck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25095022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/8ucky8arnes/pseuds/8ucky8arnes
Summary: He faltered for the first time in centuries.The resemblance was uncanny and if Evyn hadn’t seen that same body torn to shreds in front of him six centuries prior, he would’ve sworn he was going mad. The same straight nose, the same sharp jawline, the same dark hair, those same eyes: pools of honey-brown with flecks of olive green and gold…
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 35





	You Were My Life (But Life is Far Away from Fair)

**Author's Note:**

> Work and Chapter Titles inspired by “No Time to Die” by Billie Eilish
> 
> Over these months of quarantine, I’ve gone through my DVD collection and re-watched all of the Underworld movies. I’m not entirely sure when this fic idea came to mind but I couldn’t shake the image of badass, Death Dealer!Buck in black leather (accent, curls, and all). With that image in mind, I am attempting some smut with this fic so please be gentle with me as it is new territory for me.
> 
> As you can see, there are supposed to be three parts to this but knowing me, my number could change as I haven’t finished writing this story yet as I know how bad I am at ending things once I’ve started.
> 
> (Yes, I know I spelled Evan differently. It's an older spelling that would work given the time period he came from.)
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS: As is typical of the films, there are warnings in effect for violence, gore, blood, etc.

Evyn smelled the Lycans long before he saw or heard them, in part due to the rain currently pouring down onto the streets of Los Angeles, the unmistakable stench giving him the distinct image of two male Lycans reeking of sewers moments before he saw them from his perch of the rooftop of a six-story apartment building.

One dark-skinned with a shaved head and the other pale with straggly brown strands, shoved through the crowd of humans, unbothered by the cold rain or the looks being shot their way. They were focused intently on their target. Stalking their prey.

He scanned the group ahead, trying to pinpoint who their target might be-

One split off from the stream, turning the corner down another street.

The Lycans did the same.

He followed them from above, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until the three went down into a subway station, forcing him to jump down. He was striding forward as soon as his feet touched the ground, weaving through the humans and down the stairs.

The brakes of the subway sounded as the human pulled back his hood, revealing-

_It couldn’t be…_

Evyn faltered for the first time in centuries, “ _Edmund_?”

The resemblance was uncanny and if Evyn hadn’t seen that same body torn to shreds in front of him six centuries prior, he would’ve sworn he was going mad. The same straight nose, the same sharp jawline, the same dark hair-

The doppelgänger turned, meeting his stare in passing.

Those same eyes: pools of honey-brown with flecks of olive green and gold…

Evyn moved behind the pillar as a group of teenagers passed by, providing a brief reprieve as he recovered and came to the realization that the Lycans’ target was that man – that doppelgänger – and the familiar rage bubbled up in him as it always did at the thought of what the wolves had done to his mother, his father, his sister, his heart…

This man may not have been his Edmund, but Evyn refused to let history repeat itself.

It didn’t hurt that he got to kill a few Lycans.

The larger of the two saw him when he moved from behind the stone, his hackles rising as he bared his teeth in a silent snarl before raising his gun, headless of the numerous onlookers, and opening fire.

The tiles shattered where Evyn had stood. He pressed his back against the pillar and withdrew both guns, dark coat billowing behind him as he spun with weapons raised, firing continuously at one of the only figures that had remained standing when the gunfire had started.

The humans themselves had either scattered or curled on the floor, but Evyn paid them no mind as he advanced, eyes locked on his chosen target. He rolled away from a barrage of bullets, taking cover behind the kiosk for the second it took to reload his guns.

The smaller Lycan took advantage, automatic gunfire shattering the glass above him.

Evyn felt nothing as one bullet struck his shoulder, his bicep, his thigh, tearing through his skin and muscle and spraying blood across the tile. He was numb to everything except the craving to fulfill his vengeance. To smell their flesh burn from the silver. To see their brains and blood splattered along the ground.

And see it he did, after putting two clips into its head.

Having dispatched one Lycan, Evyn didn’t see the bullet hit a bystander nor Edmund rushing to help until the remaining wolf raised one clawed hand, set upon tearing open the man’s throat before he’d even known what was happening.

Evyn transformed, vision sharpening and fangs extending as turned his weapons on the Lycan, its body jerking as an entire magazine of silver was emptied into his chest, stumbling backward as skin and sinew burned. But he wasn’t down yet. His eyes turned black, the bones of his face cracking and extending as he attempted to shift.

Evyn sprung, sending it into the train tunnel, cracking the concrete wall.

The Lycan recovered, raking its claws across Evyn’s flank like a hot knife through butter and he hissed as blood pouring steadily from the wound. He resisted the urge to ascertain the damage. It didn’t matter. He knew the limits of his body.

He needed to end this _now_ before the blood loss got him killed.

Evyn kept a steady rate of fire, concentrating it all just underneath the protruding ribcage until the skin and muscle struggled to heal. He rolled under one swing. Then another. He reached into his belt, pulled the ring from a silver grenade, and thrust it in and up into the chest cavity.

Claws gouged deep into his shoulder and Evyn grunted as he kicked at the ribcage, forcing the Lycan to drop him. With a burst of speed, he ran. Down the corridor. Around the one corner. Then another before he threw himself onto the tracks, jaw clenched as his already battered body crashed onto the hard metal. Evyn smiled as the roar was followed by an explosion.

With the last of his strength, he pulled himself up.

Transformed as he was, darkness still crept into the edges of vision and he pushed himself further, driven by the need to see Edmund just one more time before he disappeared from his life. To hold that face fresh in his mind.

Each step left a bloody impression behind, but he kept on.

The fluorescent lighting of the subway platform cast everything in a foggy glow, blurring the edges of everything in front of him. Sound filtered in and out, the white noise retreating enough to hear an achingly familiar voice call out for him.

Those eyes were the last thing he saw before he slumped to the ground.

…

He woke to unfamiliar surroundings, new sounds, and scents hitting him as his eyes snapped open to take in the dark living room. Evyn pushed himself up into a sitting position, looking down at the gauze and bandages covering his body.

Finding his clothes, free of blood, and draped over one of the dining room chairs, he stood, the throw blanket falling away and leaving him in black boxer briefs as he cut off the wrapping around his thigh, reveal pale unblemished skin...

He tugged on his pants, surprised to see all his weapons laid out in the way one accustomed to them would; magazines lying beside their corresponding gun with the chamber completely emptied, blades in their sheaths, explosives laid out in two uniform rows of three, and the two remaining grenades standing upright.

Evyn listened as he lowered himself into the chair to strap on his boots, hearing only one sleep-steady heartbeat. He kept one ear on that sound as he finished dressing, reequipping his weapons into their rightful holsters and compartments before shrugging on his long coat.

He paused by the doorway when he saw the framed picture and picked it up.

This Edmund had a family: a wife and a child.

He was happy. He was whole.

And he wasn’t his.

Evyn was frustrated that he had to keep reminding himself of that. This Edmund was human and happy and Evyn had given up the right to a mortal life centuries ago. No matter how much he craved it, he wouldn’t take that opportunity away this time around.

He set the picture down.

“You’re not a wolf. What are you?”

Evyn cursed his lapse of self-control as he turned to face the man, both concerned and suspicious at how unafraid of him he was and his rudimentary knowledge of the supernatural. He showed none of it though, his expression void of emotion.

Edmund folded his arms across his chest, “What are you?”

Eyvn buried the twinge in his chest at seeing such animosity directed towards him, sure that Fate was laughing at the sight of a vampire faced with a reincarnated love that seemed to hate the supernatural. His body was growing more fatigued from the blood loss with every second that passed, though, and he found his eyes drifting one too many times to the pulse in his neck.

He needed to leave. “It doesn’t matter. You won’t see me again.”

“But you saved me.”

“I killed the Lycans, is all.”

Edmund narrowed his eyes, undeterred, “Were you tracking the wolves?”

Evyn adopted the same posture, “Yes. And they were tracking you. Why?”

“I killed one of them.”

 _That_ surprised him. Humans (especially lone ones) rarely possessed the knowledge, skill, or physicality to face such a threat, and _fuck_ , Evyn was definitely tugging at the last threads of his composure, gums aching at his canines fought to push through. He kept his lips closed as tightly as he could, “Are you going to kill me now?”

“I wouldn’t have brought you to my home otherwise.”

“Why _did_ you bring me here? Surely your wife and child-”

Something icy and dark moved over his features, a muscle flexing in his jaw at Evyn’s words, “My wife is dead. Has been for a year. Killed by a…Lycan, as you called it. And my son is currently staying over at a friend’s house for the night. I would never endanger him.”

“I’ve hit a nerve. I apologize.”

The man sighed, the tension leaching out of him, fixing those fucking eyes on him again with such intensity and if Evyn had still been human, he might’ve shown discomfort and broken eye contact. He might’ve lost his train of thought and forgotten how to breathe.

He’d admit to no one how it was near thing not to do either.

“You kept calling me Edmund…in your sleep. Why?”

“You…reminded me of someone I lost. A long time ago.” He finally looked away, back down at the picture and wondered how this man’s life could’ve been ruined by the same creature that had torn him apart centuries before. The question was one he’d never have an answer for. History repeated itself. He’d seen it time and time again, yet never so personally. “I meant no offense.”

“You loved him.”

His hands itched to shoot something then and Evyn wasn’t sure if it had anything to do with the direction the conversation had taken or the burning ache of thirst burrowing into his bones or the fact that this human had read him more clearly than anyone else (save his sire, Athena, and Ali) had in his long life, but he knew only one way to stave off the urge. “I need to go.”

“Wait.”

That voice still had the power to stop him in his tracks, but he refused to look back, to fall prey to those eyes, and the silence stretched nearly thirty seconds. Evyn was patient, though, a trait that often came with being immortal, yet the restlessness that had been a staple of his human life was pushing through. Telling him to leave. _Now_.

“Eddie. My name is Eddie.”

“Eddie.” He rolled the name off his tongue slowly, familiarizing himself with the syllables, and heard Eddie’s heart react to it as well, blood rushing through his veins, the scent of arousal following. It sent another type of heat flooding his bloodstream and _fuck_ , he needed to leave this house now. He tilted his head a fraction, speaking loud and clear, “Evyn.”

Then he was gone.

…

“Something’s on your mind, Evyn.”

He said nothing, watching Ali, clad into nothing but an open, billowing robe, walk over to the vanity, and pour two tumblers of blood. The glimpses of her nude form; all pale skin, lithe muscle, and deceptively soft curves; on any other night, might’ve enticed him to drag her back into bed for another round (or two), but he only took the proffered glass without a single lingering glance. “What makes you say that?”

“You’ve got that look on your face.”

He sipped his drink.

A smile played on her lips at his lack of response, one that didn’t bode well for Evyn, “Would it have anything to do with the fact that you came back smelling of human?” she lounged alongside him, “Did you find a new pet?”

He bared his teeth at her in a hiss.

The glass cracked in her hand as she tensed, eyes flashing electric blue.

Evyn finished his cup and stood, filling it up once more, “I…I’m sorry.”

She set the tumbler aside, “No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. That was a bad joke.”

He stared down at the thick crimson liquid, remembering his last night of humanity as he held the mutilated body of his love. His heart. His soul. Edmund. His once beautiful eyes now staring sightlessly up into the night, throat slashed to the bone…

Evyn drained the glass, “He looked like _him_. Like Edmund.”

“Oh.” She breathed, sliding out of bed and tying her robe.

Ali was perhaps, one of the very few who understand what that meant as she too had lost her husband in World War I shortly before she’d been turned. Their entire relationship was built upon keeping each other from losing their last vestiges of humanity, to hold onto their memories even if it hurt.

The events of those few short hours poured out of him and Ali said nothing the entire time as she wrapped an arm around his waist. She too watched as the rain continued to fall outside and the coven partied below, kissing his bare shoulder when his voice trailed off. “Are you going to see him again?”

“I shouldn’t.”

“But you want to.”

His vision grew watery and he pulled away, “Of course I want to, but my wants rarely factor into my life now. He is human. He has a child.” Evyn swallowed, seeing the sadness in her eyes. Sadness over him. “He doesn’t know who or what I am, Ali. It isn’t fair to place the burden of our previous life and the path I followed on him. I won’t force him to choose.”

“So you’re deciding for him?”

He drank the last of the blood in response.

“Do you know what I wouldn’t give to see Vincent again?” Her voice wavered only slightly, fingers catching his wrist and holding him fast, “To hold him in my arms again? To hear his voice? His laugh?”

“And if he had a family?”

“I would love him in any way I could. Cherish every moment.”

“You wouldn’t turn him?”

“Like you and I both, becoming immortal was our choice. It would be his as well.”

Evyn thought back to their brief exchange before he’d bolted and the realization that Eddie seemingly wanted him too was a bittersweet one. There were so many things that could happen. So many things that could go right. So many things that could go _wrong_.

He couldn’t help but think the fact that in Eddie knowing about the supernatural, the man had basically given himself two choices: become immortal or die. That wasn’t taking into account the fucking rules that dictated that Evyn never see Eddie again unless it was to turn him.

But Evyn, human or vampire, had never been one to strictly adhere to rules.

As long as Ali was the only one that knew…

She smiled at whatever expression he wore.

Evyn returned the smile, looking over at the window as the shutters came down in preparation for sunrise, only mildly disappointed at having any sort of delay. A good day’s sleep would rid him of the lingering fatigue from the fight and corresponding blood loss. Give him more time to mentally prepare himself. “Did you want to stay for the day?”

Ali’s laughter rang out like a clear bell. “And be a third wheel?”

Evyn shook his head as she gathered up her things, “Ali?”

She stopped short of closing the door, “Hmm?”

“Thank you. For the push.”

Her smile was soft and warm, “You would’ve done the same for me.”

…

As soon as it was dark, he left the mansion and got onto his bike.

The entire drive over, Evyn tried to prepare his answers to all the questions he could be asked, going back and forth over how much information to give yet for all of his planning, he was hesitant to even approach the house.

He watched from across the street, listening as Eddie tucked his son, Christopher, for the night. It would be better not to start this whole…thing by bringing a child into it. Edmund had been protective to a fault, often putting others’ lives before his own, and it seemed that trait had been carried on in this life as well.

He waited until the boy had fallen asleep before walking silently to the front porch and took nearly thirty seconds before he reached up to knock on the door and twenty-two seconds for Eddie to come and answer.

His heart sped up when he met Evyn’s gaze, his voice remaining steady as he opened the door further, clad in gray sweats and black Henley, a clear invitation to come inside, “I thought you said I wouldn’t see you again.”

“I was wrong.” He slid past, “I apologize for my shortness with you.”

Eddie shut the door, eyeing his clothing, “Extenuating circumstances I’m sure.”

Evyn knew he must’ve painted an odd picture, standing in the middle of the kitchen wearing black from head to toe, a leather duster, and combat boots armed to the teeth but going off his escalating pulse and dilated pupils, Eddie was very interested with what he saw.

“Did you want something to drink or do you prefer blood?”

Evyn didn’t react to the bluntness of the question, but he saw the humor dancing in Eddie’s eyes and leaned back against the counter, mouth lifting upwards a tiny fraction, “You’ve figured out what I am.”

He pointed to his mouth, “Your teeth kind of gave it away.”

“Yet you allowed me into your home with your child down the hall.”

“If you’d wanted to kill me, you would’ve done it already.”

“Is that how you reassure yourself?”

“Two tours in Afghanistan killed my sense of humor I’m afraid.” Eddie moved around him, leaving a faint trail of cologne and aftershave as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and twisted the top off. “And honestly, you seemed more intent on leaving than staying.”

“Given your predilection of killing Lycans, I wasn’t sure where vampires stood on your list.” He looked away as Eddie drank from the bottle, the sight of his mouth around the lip of the bottle combined with his bared throat tempting in more ways than one. Evyn could practically hear Ali’s laughter, “I thought it best to leave.”

“You sure it wasn’t because you were eying my neck like you are now?”

Evyn pulled his hands off the countertop before it broke under his grip, using every year in his six hundred and twenty-nine to keep his body loose and his voice steady, “You delivered that question much too calmly.”

“So I should be afraid?”

“I’m saying most humans, while theoretically finding vampires appealing…” The man had no time to react as Evyn moved, the vampire wrapping one hand around his throat, teeth bared and eyes glowing a brilliant electric blue as he held him up against the wall, “…don't always feel the same when confronted with the actual thing.”

Eddie didn’t speak nor move a single muscle, yet his body language told Evyn more than actual words ever would: the steady staccato of his pulse increasing under Evyn’s fingers, a minute shudder going through his body when he flexed his hand, his pupils nearly swallowed his irises, leaving only a thin ring of brown behind…

With a mind all their own, his knuckles lightly trailed along his neck, following the carotid artery upwards and pausing just underneath his jaw. The stubbled skin was warm to his touch, his eyes cataloging every heartbeat as it continuously pumped blood, loud and hot, through his body, just below the surface of the thin, fragile skin-

“Evyn…”

Eddie’s voice broke the blood’s trance-like hold over Evyn, but then he became transfixed on something else entirely: his mouth. Those lips that parted with every ragged breath. That were soft and plump and _right there_ … “Yes?”

That mouth lifted up at one side, “Are you just going to stand and stare or are you-”

Evyn shoved him back into the wall (perhaps little too rough for a human) and kissed him.

This wasn’t a chaste touch of new love or a sweet, romantic gesture. It was one of heat and hunger and _want._ A craving to possess the other completely. The urge to mark flesh with nails and teeth until there was not an inch left unscathed.

Evyn fisted the fabric and pulled, the shirt tearing like paper and revealing more of that beautiful body to his gaze and his touch, bruises blooming under his fingers every time he dragged Eddie back against him, the need to have that body pressed against his burning away his usual precautions.

From the way his hips ground into Evyn’s with every squeeze of his hands, Eddie didn’t mind in the least and Evyn deepened the kiss in response, swallowing every bit of heat that he could get. Like liquid fire or fresh blood, the warmth settled into his stomach before spreading through his nervous system and coiling tightly around the base of his spine…

His vision and senses sharpened, the warning aches in his gums distant as he slotted his knee in between Eddie’s thighs, the hardening length brushing up against his leg with an ever-quickening tempo pushing everything else from his mind.

Hands slid up his neck and secured themselves into dark curls, a slight adjustment from Evyn’s leg had Eddie yanking unexpectedly, the shock moving along his scalp and arching down his spine like lightning, completely overloading him for a split second, teeth extending fully and slicing deep into Eddie’s bottom lip.

It was the taste of blood that stopped Evyn cold in his tracks and he pulled back, watching the slow trickle of red and wanting nothing more than to sink his teeth deeper, to draw more blood from the wound, to lick those lips clean… “I apologize. I…I need to go.”

Eddie blinked at him with lust-blown eyes, “Evyn…”

But he was already gone.

…

Ali was silent as Evyn emptied yet another two magazines into the stone bust, the regal features crumbling into dust for the third time. She had been watching since he’d strode through the mansion and down to the gun range.

He reached for another clip when she stopped him.

“What happened?”

He shrugged off her hand, reloading his guns, “I fucked up.”

“In what way?”

Two more busts were reduced to rubble before he responded, “I kissed him.”

The worry didn’t leave her eyes, but she waited quietly for further explanation and he was more thankful than he would ever admit aloud, that he’d found such a friend in her. He’d been alone for centuries, his feelings shoved to the wayside in favor of killing Lycans because that path had been easier to trek…

Evyn sighed, laying his guns down to lean back against the wall. “I bit him, alright?”

“Did you…” she flashed her teeth, “ _bite_ him? Or…” she waggled her eyebrows, “ _bite_ him?”

He folded his arms across his chest, “What do you think?”

Her teasing expression faltered, that concern returning at his coarse tone and he knew she held herself back from reaching to cup his face just as she knew the only time he’d shut her out was when he wanted everyone out of his space, thus making any physical touch just too much for him at that moment. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

“Not particularly.”

“Okay, well…” she turned, grabbing two more clips of bullets and holding them out to him in invitation, “you shoot things and talk to me at the same time. Keep those trigger-happy fingers of yours busy?”

He let out a long breath, smirking as he took them, “Are you saying I like to shoot things?”

“I’m not like most of the coven you know. I don’t find _this_ …” She motioned to his combat leathers and weapons holsters, “all that off-putting. Vincent was also a solider if you remember that. You both put up this cold distant façade, all stoic and detached, but I can see through yours as I saw through his.”

“That’s right. I’m not… _refined_ enough for them. I’m too coarse. Disruptive.” He reloaded both guns, slamming the butt of them together with simultaneous clicks and smiled ruefully, long past the point of outwardly reacting to their actions or ill-disguised whispers. Hell, that had been something he’d figured out when he’d been human, “Funnily enough, that’s exactly what Father told me whenever I misbehaved.”

She hummed, “Somehow I don’t think he meant it to be funny.”

“My father was not a humorous man. His fists proved that.”

“You’re digressing, Evyn.” Ali tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, speaking up over the gunfire like it was a mild inconvenience. “Now back to the matter at hand, what happened after you left the mansion?”

“I went to his house.”

“And?”

“The blood loss left him looking a little too…appetizing that night and he’d noticed. It didn’t take long for him to figure out what I was.” Jaw aching at the faint taste he’d gotten, Evyn knew his eyes had flashed that eerie blue icier than his own.

“He wanted you to bite him.”

“I…I don’t know.” He finally set the guns down, having reached the part of their interaction that had been troubling him, in more ways than one. “He didn’t say it in as many words, but his body language spoke volumes when I attempted to dissuade him. He was…interested.”

“You tried to scare him.”

He frowned, “ _Tried_ being the operative word.”

“How?”

“Excuse me?”

“How did you try to scare him?”

In a move that few (save vampire or Lycan) could track, he spun and closed his hand around her throat, baring his teeth as his entire face transformed. His fingers tightened on her neck but she, like Eddie, blinked at him owlishly before a wide, knowing grin split her face, his irritation genuine as he huffed.

“God, you have no idea, do you?”

“No idea about what?”

“How fucking hot you look right now.”

Perturbed, he dropped his hand, “What?”

She laughed, “Anyone, man or woman, would have to be blind not to.” Ali smiled, fixing the lapels of his duster, running her palms down his chest to flatten them, “You’re like something out of some trashy paperback; a tall, dark, ruggedly handsome creature of the night who broods over a love they’ll never be able to have.”

He snorted, “That’s absurd.”

“No.” She walked around him and hopped onto the table that held his guns, curling her fingers over the edge and crossing her ankles, “What’s absurd is you thinking that he would never want to be with you as you are now.”

“It doesn’t matter. What he wants from me isn’t what I want from him.”

“And what do you think he wants from you?”

“A good fuck.”

She stared at him incredulously, “Do you think so little of him? Or yourself?”

“That’s why you’re with me, isn’t it?”

Ali jumped down, brown eyes flashing blue, “The hell it is! I’m with you because I care about you. I’m with you because you have stood by me since the day I was reborn. You kept me grounded when everyone else wanted to party and drink and lounge and forget their previous lives. You kept me human. I know I mean the same to you.”

He sighed, “I’m sorry, Ali.”

She pursed her lips, “Do you really think that’s the only reason?”

“No. It’s just…” he glanced at the destroyed busts, “I was alone for almost five hundred years before you came here. The only connections I had with others were nothing more than a way to release tension. My emotions never factored into them before. The last true, _real_ emotional connections I were him and my sister.”

She kept her eyes trained on his face as she spoke her next question, keeping him focused on her, “If you really didn’t think that was the reason, why would you ask me that anyway? You _know_ me. I would never think so little of you.”

“I appreciate that Ali, really.” He forced a smile, “Thank you.”

She kissed him on the cheek, “I accept payment in all forms.”

Evyn chuckled. “Anything in particular?”

Ali cocked her head thoughtfully, “Anything?”

Evyn could’ve cursed himself for his vague wording and pairing that with his inability to truly refuse her was a poor decision. He’d made enough of those of late and wasn’t too fond of testing Robert and Athena’s leniency right now. He sighed in affirmation.

“Go to him tomorrow night.”

All traces of good humor left him, “Ali…”

“This time, trying talking to him before sinking your teeth into him?”

“You’re not as humorous as you think you are.”

Ali grinned, poking at his cheeks, “Then why are you smiling?”

He pressed his lips together, failing to completely keep from smiling and his chest warmed when Ali laughed, the sound a much-needed balm to his frayed emotions. “I’m going to stay here a bit longer. Go to bed.”

“You sure you don’t want my company?”

“I’ll be fine Ali. Just some weapons training is all.”

She arched a brow, “And I can’t watch?”

He did smile then, “Go.”

Ali sighed, still smiling, “Alright. Let me know how tomorrow night goes?”

Evyn nodded, “Of course.”

She kissed his cheek, “Looking forward to it.”

He resumed his target practice, each shot echoing off the stone walls with deadly accuracy, the sharpness of gunpowder in his nose one of the few comforts he’d found before Ali. Training never failed to put him at ease, working both his mind and body-

“What’s got you all worked up?”

Evyn caught the head of brilliant copper in the corner of his vision and ignored the woman that both the hair and voice belonged to. After the events of the last two nights, he had little energy (or patience) to deal with the likes of Taylor Kelly and had no problem hurting her feelings if it meant she’d leave him be.

Although, a part of him doubted she had feelings _to_ hurt.

Evyn reloaded his guns with the last of the prepared magazines and pushed the button just underneath the table, raising the weapon as the busts came into view. His finger tightened on the trigger every time the woman went to speak and Evyn could picture Ali’s smile perfectly at his oh-so mature reaction to her presence.

Those two hadn’t gotten along from the start.

Taylor sought out his company and his bed for the promise of the standing it would bring her due to his relationship with their coven leader, Athena, and her Consort, Robert; his age; and little else. Both would give her power, of his blood and status and that was all she cared about.

Ali did little to hide her disdain and Evyn didn’t begrudge her occasional boasts about the nature of their relationship, knowing she meant him no harm. He appreciated her loyalty in those times and found some enjoyment in seeing those green eyes narrow in irritation.

While Athena was aware, she frowned upon him (or Ali) starting physical altercations and those small verbal barbs were the only things allowed lest the redhead was foolish enough to attempt the first shot in front of others.

Getting him alone always made her braver as was evident by how quick she was to move close to him and it took significant effort to keep himself from hissing at her as she came into his personal space unwarranted. He tensed as a hand lingered on his bicep and it was a wonder he hadn’t snapped at her with his teeth.

“Something’s bothering you.”

“Interruptions tend to do that.” He pulled away from her, moving to the table reserved for the cleaning of weapons and draped his duster over the nearby bench. He began the process of disassembling the guns piece by piece, “So go.”

“That’s not it.” She leaned back against the table, adopting the same position as Ali had not ten minutes ago, fingers curled around the edge with her ankles crossed, and it instantly had Evyn’s hackles rising, “You’re upset.”

He began putting his first gun back together, “Just with you.”

She let out a huff, “Someone didn’t get enough to eat.”

Her teasing (and no doubt probing) statement confirmed his suspicion that she’d overheard him and Ali’s conversation and Evyn was grateful for the unintentional forethought to not say Eddie’s name aloud while also cursing himself for speaking outside the privacy of his rooms in the first place.

He showed none of his alertness, though, hands not stopping in the slightest as he worked on his second gun, knowing the woman was looking for him to react. Evyn was sure she wanted to figure out the identity of the “him” he and Ali had talked about.

Taylor was a fledgling compared to him, a mere six decades to his centuries.

He’d dealt with way worse than her.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” She smiled coyly as she straightened, letting one hand trail along the line of his shoulders, fingers following the curves of muscle before she leaned in to whisper. “You seem a bit tense.”

“Because you won’t go away.” His voice took on a deadly tone, one that he’d learned from Athena, one that most in their coven hoped never to incur. It was as much of a warning as he would give her before she said or did something that made him lose his temper. “Now _leave_.”

“I don’t think that’s it.” She slid her hands over his shoulders, his arms-

He stood and nudged her away, just short of shoving her as he went to gather a set of silver throwing knives. While not his usual go-to weapon, it required more movement and would keep her at a distance, “I’m not in the mood for your company.”

“So you prefer _his_ then?”

His first throw hit a centimeter to the left of the bullseye, the only outward sign the question had had any impact on him. He withdrew more blades like she hadn’t spoken, every one of them hitting dead center. The last one sank to the hilt with the force of the throw, his voice coming out from between his teeth. “I’d _prefer_ to be alone.”

“Now, I know that’s not true.”

Despite his growing irritation, he almost smiled at the edge to the woman’s words. He’d been turning her down for as long as she’d been a vampire and she still couldn’t let it go. “Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Taylor.”

She huffed, “Who were you talking about?”

He went to pull the blades out of the target, his short bout of amusement disappearing with each knife he removed. Taylor was approaching dangerous territory and whether she knew it or not, she was inches from a land mine. “What part of _go away_ are you not understanding?”

“I’m not leaving until you answer my question.”

He walked past her to return the blades and leave when she finally decided talking wasn’t working and grabbed his wrist to stop him. The tension snapped and, like a bowstring being released, he struck.

Using the arm she’d taken, Evyn spun her around and slammed her into one the stone pillars, forearm pressing down on her throat with glowing eyes and bared teeth. Unlike Ali or Eddie, Taylor was genuinely frightened of his explosion of anger from seemingly out of nowhere; her own green eyes flashing blue for an entirely different reason.

His voice was more of a low growl, “Do _not_ touch me again. Is that clear?”

Her fingers clawed at his wrist as she choked out, “Yes…I understand. Please-”

Evyn released her, grabbed his duster off the bench, and stormed back to his room.

…

Athena appeared at his door not twenty minutes later and, while still a mess of emotions, he wasn’t stupid enough to refuse her entrance and stepped aside, growing more on edge with each moment of silence that passed after the door had been shut and locked.

Taylor had left him and gone straight to Athena.

She _told_ her.

The urge to protect Eddie, to protect his son, against all threats rose so suddenly, he had to turn away less the woman take his flashing eyes the wrong way. Having the coven leader know anything at all was another nail in Eddie’s coffin.

“Is there something you need to tell me, Evyn?”

“In regards to?”

She raised a brow, unamused, “Your whereabouts earlier tonight.”

Evyn knew better than try skirting the truth with the woman who’d turned him, who knew the thoughts in his mind that night so long ago. It was a bond shared in the moments following the exchange of blood and Edmund’s face had been one of the few things he’d clung to through the transformation.

And Athena Grant never forgot a face.

His hands flexed at his sides, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I’ve…disappointed you.”

While her expression was considered stoic at the best of times, Evyn knew it well enough to see the hard lines around her mouth soften. He could count the number of times he’d ever been truly emotional in front of her on one hand, most of them occurring in the decades that followed his transformation before he eventually retreated into training and solitude.

“How?”

“The Covenant.”

She watched him for a long moment, putting together the pieces Taylor had gotten to what she knew about Evyn (what made him emotional) and what the rules of the Covenant entitled. It didn’t take long at all for her to put everything together and she blinked once in surprise, “It was Edmund? You’re sure?”

He nodded, “I could never forget his face.”

She pursed her lips, turning to face the large window. “You understand your options?”

Evyn’s hackles rose and it was a very near thing to not snap instinctually, knowing his leniency with Athena only extended so far. So, he thought through the options ahead: one, kill him before he told other humans about their existence; two, bite him and hope he survived the fifty/fifty odds; three, keep him as a thrall; or four, never go near him again on pain of the first option being the only option.

The final of the four was the only one that he could stomach as Evyn refused to play a part in his death for the second time, whether it was by his own hands or his venom, and just the thought of keeping him as some mindless thing that followed him like a dog…

He’d sooner walk into sunlight than see that beautiful soul reduced to a fucking addict.

Evyn clenched his jaw, “I understand.”

“Do you?” Athena’s eyes held him in place, “I know how you are.”

“I won’t endanger him or this Coven.”

“You understand the penalties should you disobey.”

Evyn knew Athena wasn’t as ruthless as others said, but there was no doubt in his mind that if there ever came a time where the fate of the Coven came down to the choice of either killing her pseudo-son of six centuries or a human she’d never met…there would be no choice to make and the damage to their tight bond would be irreversible. “Yes.”

“I’m sorry, Evyn.”

His heart twisted painfully in his chest. “I know.”

She left without another word.


End file.
